The story is beginning to come into focus. We've learned from Baylor himself that, "[t]here’s a dispute going on." We also know that Baylor's mug and bio were mysteriously missing from the team's media guide. There are additional reports that the 74-year-old Baylor was offered some sort of ambassadorial or emeritus role with the team.

That this departure lacks ceremony and tact is little surprise, given Donald T. Sterling's history. You don't have to be a sentimentalist, though, to feel that the length of Baylor's tenure, coupled with his legacy as one of the most dynamic basketball players in Los Angeles history, warranted more menschkeit from the organization.

Elgin's problem was always two-fold: a) You rarely did anything he wanted to do, and b) he wanted the job too badly to ever put it on the line.

...Did you ever notice these things never happen to the Lakers?

The words Laker Family mean something with an organization studded with former players and Jerry Buss giving Magic Johnson and Pat Riley multi-million dollar severance packages after they left and were of no more use to him.

You don't hear people talk about Clipper Family. If someone did, I'd think of a family like that of the Emperor Commodus in "Gladiator."

This didn't have to happen at the same time you opened a sparkling $50-million practice site that could have symbolized a rebirth but as this debacle shows, your organization still needs some work, like from the top down.

Vikings went out like Vikings, pushed into fjords in ships to be set ablaze in a hail of burning arrows.

Given the unkind end to his legendary playing career, as well as the years of thankless service he gave the Clips long before their more recent flirtations with respectability, this is no way for Elg to go out, embroiled in a murky he-said, he-said.

Resigned? Retired? Fired? No one is quite sure. One theory suggests Baylor felt too much emphasis had been placed on his age and balked at the stripped-of-power terms he was offered to stay on as a consultant and/or ambassador. Another theory holds that Baylor, before a team-imposed Monday deadline for a final decision, hit the Clips with an aggressive string of demands to stay on.

So much, then, for the fantasy notion that Baylor would be the one prominent figure in Clippers history who wouldn't leave in a messy divorce. Instead, we're looking at the usual unsavory parting of owner Donald Sterling and one of his leading basketball men, requiring the intervention of lawyers to negotiate a resolution.

The Clippers might actually run more smoothly without Baylor, because it reduces their management muddle from three factions -- (1) Sterling and team president Andy Roeser; (2) Dunleavy and trusty aide Neil Olshey; (3) Baylor -- to two.

In October 2003, just a few months after the Clippers named Dunleavy coach, the team brought in personnel director Neil Olshey and let go of longtime personnel man Barry Hecker, a move that was seen by most as the result of a power struggle between Dunleavy and Baylor. With Hecker out and Olshey hired, there was no question that Dunleavy had put his stamp on the organization, and that Baylor was increasingly becoming a figurehead.

Baylor is a link to "The Worst Franchise in Pro Sports" days. He should have been fired each and every year since, say, 1987. So that's about two decades of reprieves. And although not much will change in the short term since MDsr was already calling the shots, it's clearly better for him to have the title along with the responsibility.

Seems like it could have been handled better though. I hope Baylor doesn't end up suing Sterling for his salary like Bill Fitch had to. That's embarrassing.

As an executive, Baylor was an enigma -- a fact that's as much a product of circumstance as instinct. From the outset, Baylor had a unique arrangement with Sterling. Virtually every owner in sports demands winning as a mandate from his front office principal. But Baylor wasn't asked to achieve with the Clippers so much as to preside. No matter how bad things got for the Clippers, Baylor had unrivaled job security.

That's because Sterling wasn't looking for a visionary. He wanted an attendant.

Mike Dunleavy will assume the GM post. He has named Neil Olshey, whom he brought in the summer of 2003 from SFX Sports Group [now part of Wasserman Media Group], as assistant GM.

Stein's point is interesting -- factional strife in Clipperland has now been reduced from a tripartite affair to two opposing camps. Makes for more streamlined conflict.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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I've read most of the articles, especially the one Kevin wrote on ESPN.com, and I have a more clearer understanding about this situation, at least as far as the beginning of the Elgin Baylor era in Clipperland. Even though Elgin should have been dismissed, and rightfully so based on his track record, Donald and boy wonder Andy should have at least (publicly) shown some more tact in regards to Elgin's leaving...it was so matter-of-factly. It's no doubt that this situation isn't going to end pretty for neither Elgin or Donald. We all know how much Donald loves the courtroom (after all, he's an attorney by trade), and if the story about the team offering Elgin another role in the organization holds true, then Donald and his boy wonder might stake on this one.

The only other stalwart that's been in the Clipper organization longer (and longer than either Donald or Andy) is Ralph Lawler, and even though this is just a hypothetical thought here...I wonder if Lawler's the next one going out. He's not that much younger than either Donald or Elgin.

The way the Clippers (Sterling) handled this situation is sorta wrong, but it's a business and Elgin had plenty of years to make this franchise better. 4 Playoff appearances in 22 years...come on. The Clippers did offer him to keep his title and salary, so I really don't know why people are being so negative towards the Clippers. Poor draft choices, unable to pull trades, and his awesome jerry-curl hair is his legacy. He's a good man, great player, but not a good GM. I only wish him the best.

why is everyone so broken up about this? I couldnt be happier. I'm not convinced that MD can handle both roles, but we all know that OVERALL, Elgin was a joke of a GM. If you argue that DTS didnt give him the ability to do his job, I say he should have quit years ago.

You do what you can with what you got. If he didnt have the balls in the organization then you might as well leave.

You want a ceremony? What is there to celebrate? A great playing career for the LAKERS?

He made some nice moves, but made some horrible ones too. He has NEVER been held accountable when the team lost, but got the credit when the team made a short-lived run.

ACD: "You want a ceremony? What is there to celebrate? A great playing career for the LAKERS?"

I totally agree with you. Why should we celebrate a man who gave us so many crappy years? Laker fans have already spoken about the Clippers not being "Classy" for dealing with this manner unfairly. You know what I say to those Laker fans? F#$K YOU! Again, I am happy that the Clippers are FINALLY doing something with this franchise and Laker fans should mind their business because the Clippers are going to be a legit franchise.

i am listening to the loose cannons right now, and they are just ripping the clipps, i dont ever want to hear a laker fan or laker radio tell us how great elgin was and that the clippers should have done him better. he was good for the lakers as a player obviously but was awful for the clips and dunleavy has been running things the past couple of years anyway. they dont owe him any ceremony good riddance.
if dunleavy doesnt show much soon he will be gone also

Loose cannons are a bunch of tools from Steve Hartmen to Vick The Brick. Could the situation have been handled better? Maybe, I don't know the facts. All I have been reading was that Baylor still had a job at the same pay. Shit, if I did a shitty job, I don't expect to paid and tact is the least of my issues.

P.S. the Raiders were going to win the super bowl and going 16-0 according to Vick. That's some great incite

I don't really think Elgin engineered anything. I think Jerry was stupid enough to offer us the deal. You had to brain dead not to accept, everyone would have taken brand over chandler at the moment. Elgin happened to trip and fell onto a fumble, right place at the right time

You know Elgin Baylor as the longtime general manager of the Clippers. Blessed with a kind face and a happy smile, almost like the grandfather in a UPN sitcom, he's the Hall of Famer who sits with the other embarrassed GMs during the lottery every spring. I have made many jokes about Elgin over the years. He's an easy target. This is a man once described by TNT's Reggie Theus as "a veteran of the lottery process" ... and he meant it as a compliment. During last June's draft, I slammed Elgin for trading down two spots -- from No. 2 to No. 4 -- and passing up a sure thing (Emeka Okafor) for a high school point guard (Livingston), adding that, "Having Elgin Baylor run your team must be like getting in the car with my mom at night, when she's careening off curbs and saying things like, 'I can't believe how bad my eyes have gotten' and 'We shouldn't have ordered that bottle of wine.' Just constant fear."

i like listening to sports talk radio but in LA we are forced to hear laker and dodger talk, as clipper and angel fan i get really irritated how radio out here talks about those teams and then glorifies the lakers and dodgers

I think it's pretty funny that all these pundit pricks who shat on and made fun of Elgin any chance they got are now coming to his defense.

Fuck all these hypocrites!

Baylor is - make that WAS! - a pathetic excuse for a GM and if he had even an ounce of pride he'd have resigned 15 years ago when it became obvious to everyone that he couldn't draft his way out of a paper bag.

The Clippers even tried to let Elgin go gently by offering him another position within the org and paying him a salary for doing essentially NOTHING and instead of saying 'thank you' he balked!

Do not blame the Clippers on this one - blame the old fuddy duddy who didn't know when it was time to leave and make a graceful exit!

Mason & Ireland actually started their show today talking about the Elgin saga and they both were taking the Clippers side. They both agreed that the Clips were more than fair in their proposal to pay Baylor his full salary while taking on an ambassador role. Bottom line, Baylor was crap for a majority of his 22 years and he should consider his last 20 years of salary as severance pay.

That's a good piece by Smmons. Makes this whole thing a little tougher to digest regardless of all the details.

Shawn, if they get rid of Ralph in any way other than him wanting to retire, I'd be furious and looking for a new team. Ralph's work is one of the key factors that gets me through the losing.
He and Mike are solid through the good and the bad.

Baylor is 74 years old and has very few accmplishments to speak of aside from trading for Ron Harper in 1989, hiring Larry Brown in 1992, trading for Brand in 2001, and in hiring MD a few years ago. MD has caused the DTS purse strings to come loose and even got DTS to pay him $20M. If Baylor couldn't convince DTS to go after free agents all these years or to persuade DTS to keep him in a management capacity, how effective would he be as a GM in making trades and going after free agents? Got to go.

10/25/08 22:49:40

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